Futility
by 454647675
Summary: What is worst than Death? What is the true power of love? At the end of the tunnel, we find the answers to both, and we find out what is truly... futile.
1. Desquiet

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b Disclaimer: This is JKR's world, I'm just messing in it. /b 

i A/N: After I finished reading Death of a Salesman awhile ago, I was feeling kind of morose and penned an idea for a short little one-off. However, the Admins told me that my story couldn't qualify, so I had to split it up into three chapters. This is Part 1 of 3. Enjoy :) /i 

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"Bind Them!" Harry barked, causing a few of the Order members to jump into action. With practiced ease, they waved their wands and each cast the special binding spell on one of the half-dozen Death Eaters, immobilizing them both physically and magically. The Order had been forced to create more effective spells after a dozen or more escapes made by Death Eaters after capture by various means. i Thank God Hermione is on our side... /i Harry thought, as the dark wizards were Portkeyed to a safe location by one of the new Order members.

"Good work, guys. Head back to Headquarters in pairs at the regular intervals. Get some sleep, you deserve it." Smiling, he watched as the recently-promoted Order trainees departed the scene a couple of minutes apart, staggering their arrivals so that tracking the location of Order HQ would be harder, yet another of Ron's brilliant tactical suggestions. Sighing, he stowed his wand as the last of the rookies departed. With a flick of his robes, he disappeared from the scene with a 'pop'.

center /center 

"Harry?" a familiar voice called tentatively, coming from the den below. Blinking the sleep awake, he realised he had fallen into a slumber in the bath once again. i Four times this week already? /i he wondered, dragging himself out of the now chilly water and wrapping a thick towel around his body. Dragging his slightly numb feet out of the water, he dried off and slipped on underwear, a pair of jeans and a light shirt. With a once-over in the bathroom mirror, he unlocked the door and stepped out of the bathroom. Descending the stairs, he headed for the slight bustle of pots and pans in the kitchen. A beautiful redhead stood in front of the stove, nibbling a finger cutely as she stirred something in one of the smaller pans.

"Hey, love," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her hair softly, "What's for dinner?" Turning, Ginny smiled at him and gave him an affectionate peck on the cheek.

"Pasta. I didn't have much time after looking through all the stakeout reports from this afternoon's meeting," she murmured, swatting playfully at him as she said, "and it's going to be all soggy if you don't let me go fish it out." Wrinkling his nose to her sweet laughter, he tracked her across the kitchen where she drained the linguini in the colander. Ginny had been assigned the desk job of being the "spymaster" for the Order for the one year that she had been pregnant; even though she now did as much field work as anyone, she still enjoyed distilling the odd report on occasion. Giving one last stir to the sauce in the pan, Ginny asked Harry to set the table as she assembled their meal.

"So," she said conversationally as they set down to a simple meal of linguini with chicken pesto and bread, "Did Mom report any misbehavior today?" Flame-haired, green-eyed Emily Potter had been born a year after their wedding, in Ginny's seventh year, and was five years old. For now, she spent most of her time in the now-empty Burrow with her grandmother, as Harry and Ginny didn't want her to be more at risk than was absolutely necessary.

"I don't think so, but then again, I fell asleep in the bath when I got home from the raid," he replied, "You don't think this is bad, do you? Leaving her with Molly..." As worried look clouded his face, as memories of his childhood flashed before his eyes. i I wouldn't wish that on anyone... /i As if reading his mind, his wife spoke up.

"We are i not /i abandoning her!" she said forcefully, "We've had this discussion before, this is not like you childhood, Harry. We love her, and she knows it, okay? So stop worrying. Besides, it keeps Mom occupied after..." She didn't need to complete the sentence. Almost everyone in the Order knew that Molly Weasley had not been the same after that fateful day when her husband and her third son had died when the Death Eaters had attacked the Ministry. All of a sudden, they heard a male voice from the living room. Shooting panicked looks at each other, they both drew their wands and rushed into the den. They skidded to a halt.

"Kingsley?" Ginny asked of the flustered-looking head in the fire, "Why didn't you use the secure Message Spell?" Floo-calling had become less popular among the Order because of the ease with which it could be tapped into; new spells had been developed which allowed Order members to communicate, while slightly more slowly, more securely.

"It's an emergency!" Kingsley said, panic and fear in his voice, "I think you'd better come down to the original Headquarters right now..." With that, his head disappeared, just in time, as Harry quickly threw a new handful of Floo powder into the fire. Clutching his wife firmly by his side, he leapt into the emerald flames.

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In the nine and a half years since Voldemort had returned in that fateful graveyard, the war had escalated drastically. While most of the battles were still fought in the shadows and under the cover of darkness, the majority of the Wizarding world affected by it, and thus, many people had joined up to both sides. To counter the growing ranks of Death Eaters in the country, the Order had begun raids, like the one Harry had carried out that day, on Death Eater recruit training camps and had also begun their own large-scale recruiting. With so large a force now behind them, the Order had found the need to partition the forces, each large group having their own headquarters and leader from the original Order. With the prolonging of the war, however, the forces on both sides had been spreading thin despite the new recruits, but still Harry, Kingsley and McGonagall managed to keep the tides from turning too badly, while ensuring that the Order didn't become a mess of bureaucrats and red tape. It was into the first Headquarters of Grimmauld Place that Harry and Ginny stepped into.

"What's wrong Kingsley? What's wrong?" Ginny cried as they saw the sunken face of their mentor and friend. With despair in his eyes, he sat the pair down at one of the couches in the lounge and stood before them. He looked at the young couple, a haunted look in his eyes.

"The Burrow was raided today," he whispered, falling to his knees.

"WHAT?" Harry roared, leaping to his feet. Ginny, hands trembling, stood by him.

"Emily? Molly?" she asked softly, her voice quivering.

"Molly took a few bad curses; she's in St. Mungo's..." Kingsley replied, "They... they took Emily..." At the words, Harry collapsed into a sobbing mass, grief wracking his body as an equally tearful Ginny guided him back to the chair and cradled his head in her arms.

"Where?" she managed to get out, her voice hoarse with anguish. Kingsley's pained look betrayed his own emotions, but told them anyway.

"They took her to the Pennines range near the Yorkshire Dales, the one we think He's hiding in..." at Ginny's nod Kingsley decided to risk it, "We will assemble a-..."

"NO!" Harry sat up suddenly, "There isn't time... Ginny and I will go and rescue our daughter. It'll take too long to scramble the others... You can't stop me, Kingsley." His voice was even as the couple stood up, to leave. Against all expectation, Kingsley stepped out of their way.

"I know, Harry... and I won't try to," his face suddenly grew stern, "I would do the same in your position, but all I can do now is send the others after you. Godspeed to you." With a nod, the couple made their way out of the room.

A few seconds later, they were gone.

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i A/N: Part Two is coming out tomorrow or the day after. P.S. Read my Christmas Engagement (6-2006) entry, i Something's Wrong This Christmas /i , hehe. Thanks for reading, now review :) /i 

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Copyright Geoffrey Lim 2006


	2. Despair

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b Disclaimer: This is JKR's world, I'm just messing in it. /b 

i A/N: Here's the second part of my story, guys. Enjoy :) /i 

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" i Daddy! /i "

The high-pitched scream tore through the sounds of battle, ringing in his ears. Eyes wide, his head shot up, locking onto his daughter's tiny trashing form being dragged away into the yawning mouth of the cave. Wand blazing, he fought his way over to his wife, sidling up to her as he took another two of the masked Death Eaters down.

"He's got her in the cave!" He shouted, grabbing her arm and slowly backing up till they were shielded by a large outcropping. Harry turned to face her, hollow eyes filling slowly with the madness of fear. Tears leaked out of his eyes, dripping unnoticed onto his already blood-stained robes.

"They've got our little girl..." he murmured, almost inaudibly.

"I know, honey, but we're going to save her, you hear? We're going to save her." Ginny whispered furiously as the Death Eaters drew closer; dabbing her own eyes, she clasped his wrist and spoke, looking him straight in the eyes, "We're going to beat them, okay?" With his nod of assent, the pair rose to a half-crouch and readied their wands. With twin roars of sadness, they leapt back into the fray.

Gritting his teeth, he held the tears in his eyes, focusing his mind on his one task- rescuing his baby girl. Even as he swept his wand in an arc, sending a blade of magic slicing through the enemy ranks, his breathing evened out, settling into a steady beat as he systematically set beams of light speeding towards the now-wary group of wizards standing but a dozen meters away. As the deadly beams turned bushes into piles of ash and rocks into rubble, he fell into the well-practiced grace of his training; ducking, rolling, firing. Just as the group of quickly-diminishing wizards were about to pull back, a dozen cracks filled the air as more masked wizards Apparated right into the centre of the battle. A few were caught unawares, apparently not having known that their base was under attack, and soon fell to the group under the heavy cross-fire.

However, the majority quickly regained their bearings, ducking behind boulders or conjuring shields as they retreated to where their comrades were dug-in. As the battle drew on, Harry and Ginny quickly felt the toll of their magic as their energy flagged. Seizing the opportunity, the assembled Death Eaters surged forward as the duo pulled back. Dodging into the out-cropping once more, they held a hurried conference.

"Where are the others? We can't hold them for much longer, let alone get to the cave," Ginny gasped as she regained her breath.

"Well, we don't have a choice, do we? He has Emily..." Harry said, desperation leaking into his voice, "This is like Little Hangleton all over aga-" He stopped short, and crooked an eyebrow at Ginny. With a small smile, she nodded once.

This time, they made no battle cry and fired no fancy spells. Giving the Death Eaters but a split second to react, their wands were blurs as they rained low-power shattering hexes onto the multitude of rocks littering the ground. As the first of the return fire came, their spells connected with loud cracks, causing the ground to erupt with bursts of crippling rock shards. Screams filled the air as needles of rock speared uncovered limbs, while the larger ones broke bones and punctured guts. As the dust settled over the blood-splattered battleground, Harry and Ginny grimaced at the sight of the dead and dying, jogging quickly to the cave entrance where their daughter had last been seen.

Entering the tunnel, their pace slowed to a brisk walk, as much to avoid accidents in the dark as because of the spine-tingling feel of the Dark Magic lingering in the very air of the place. Following the curves in the tunnel, they were soon rewarded with the sight of the flickering orange light native to torches coming from just off the main tunnel. With renewed speed, husband and wife made their way towards the light, wands drawn.

The cavern was huge. It was larger than even the Great Hall in Hogwarts. Its walls were rough black granite, its surface glimmering eerily in the light of the bracketed torches at intervals all along the perimeter of the cavern. A stench settled almost chokingly over the entire area, rising from the two trenches of unidentifiable corpses spanning the length. In the far end, however, was what caught Harry and Ginny's attention.

There she was, on the dais. Their little girl. With i him /i .

Tom Riddle Junior was draped languidly across an ornate wooden chair, Emily Potter in his lap.

At the sight, Harry leapt forward with a primal roar of fury, sprinting towards dais, his wife following not a step behind. Nearing them, he raised his wand, a spell already forming on his lips.

"Uh uh aah..." The cold drawl stopped him short as a skeletal hand rose behind his daughter's shoulder, a wand clasped delicately within. Skidding to a halt, the Potters stared on in horror as Voldemort raised a single finger and stroked Emily's cheek. From this distance, the dullness of enchantment was unmistakable in her eyes. With a cruel smile, he stood, pushing their daughter's limp form ahead, his wand tip still gently caressing her cheek.

"So this is what it all boils down to. My last loyal Death Eaters lie motionless upon the ground outside; your world lies virtually in tatters from all these years of war. Everyone loses, Potter. Everyone loses," he said, voice oddly low, perhaps with the weariness of being on the run continually for nearly a decade, "You are weak, Potter. Weak from the strain of leadership, of war, of life; but so am I. I tire of this running and hiding, fighting in the shadows like cowards. So tonight, we will end it, but we will end it on my terms..." At this, a cruel smile curled his lips obscenely, the grip on his wand suddenly tightening as a manic gleam filled his eyes.

"You wouldn't..." Harry breathed fearfully, suddenly understanding what Voldemort was about to do.

"He wouldn't what? T-Tell me!" Ginny said, her voice rising in terror and panic. i My baby... /i 

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i A/N: Part Three is coming out the day after tomorrow. Thanks for reading, now review :) /i 

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Copyright Geoffrey Lim 2006


	3. Hope

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b Disclaimer: This is JKR's world, I'm just messing in it. /b 

i A/N: The last part of my story. Enjoy :) /i 

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"N-no... Please." Voldemort smiled at the hopeless horror in Harry Potter's eyes. Turning to Ginny, he spoke in a mocking tone.

"What your darling husband doesn't want you to know, sweet Ginevra, is that I am going to even the odds by strengthening myself. What better way to do that... than to drain your daughter's immense magical reserves." Ginny's mouth fell open in shock at the ruthless chill in his voice.

"No!" She screamed, leaping forward recklessly. Before a spell could fly from her wand, she was sent sprawling with a flick of the Dark Lord's wand. Scrambling over to his wife's side, Harry gasped as he saw the deep gash of the stomach wound beneath her tattered robes. Falling to his knees, he cradles Ginny's head in his lap, his wand out as he prepared to heal her.

"D-Don't..." her normally forceful and lively voice was reduced to a mere whisper as the life literally leaked from between her fingers.

"I'll heal you up quick, Gin. Just hold still...It'll only take a little bit."

"No!" her voice rose a little before dying down once more, "I trained as a healer, remember... before... It'll take too much. Save our Emily..." With that little exertion, she grimaced, before schooling her expression into a small smile for her husband. i A cruel shadow of her smile... /i With fire in his eyes, Harry stood shakily, his chest clenching with pain. The next moment seemed to span a lifetime, as bolt of blue flame flew from the tip of Harry's wand.

" i Immolatio! /i " Voldemort screeched at the same time. Emily's eyes widened, her mouth widening into a surprised 'oh', as a bolt of white flew from her chest and into the Dark Lord. Even as her frail form crumpled lifelessly onto the floor, Tom Riddle dodged the bolt with sudden agility, letting it fly past harmlessly as the chair behind him burst into flame. With a scream of anguish, Harry blindly sent a rain of curses towards Voldemort, which he easily dodged.

"Is that the best the savior of the wizarding world can do? Reduced to blind firing like a mere rookie..." Voldemort spat, as Harry stood unmoving, each word sending shards through his already-torn heart.

i The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches /i 

"They all died for nothing, Harry. All those people who died fighting..." Slamming his eyes shut, Harry fell to his knees by his wife's limp form, his worst fears being read from the lines of his heart, right before his eyes.

i born to those who have thrice defied him /i 

"Your teachers. Yours friends..."

i born as the seventh month dies /i 

"Your parents, Harry. Their deaths haven't protected you well..."

i and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal /i 

"Your Wife..."

i but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not /i 

"Your Daughter..."

i and either must die at the hand of the other /i 

"All their deaths, their love... futile, isn't it? It all ends now, your love cannot protect you anymore, Harry Potter." A soft hand wrapped reassuringly around Harry's calf. It was reassuringly warm against his clammy skin as Ginny sent a trickle of power through their matrimonial bond.

i for neither can live while the other survives /i 

"No." Harry said, rising to his feet slowly, Ginny's hand still at his calf; he continued, his voice steady and cold, "Their deaths were not futile. Their love was not futile!"

As if upon some greater compulsion, both their wands flew up, joining once more as they were forced to do battle. Without ceremony, the two wizards threw all their efforts into fending off the other, each willing the beads of golden light along the beam. Harry gritted his teeth as Voldemort's unholy magic caused the beads to move slowly but steadily towards him. As they drew close, his wand began shuddering, heating up to near smoldering within the fiftieth part of a second. Crying out with the pain of keeping his hold on the wand, Harry suddenly felt a burst of magic racing up from Ginny. With a mighty roar, he threw the raw magic into the fray, letting months of pent-up emotion rise to the surface. Fear. Anguish. Hurt. Anger. i Love /i . With a blinding flash, and a deafening crack, the beads of light expanded and imploded under the onslaught, destroying the beam in a shower of sparks, and leaving the brother wands but piles of ash in their owners' hands.

i the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies... /i 

"Nooo!" Voldemort howled, turning suddenly as he prepared to Disapparate away. Without a thought, Harry's right arm flew up, fingers splayed, magic pulsing in his veins. In a flash, Tom Marvolo Riddle was caught, struggling against his mystical bonds with growing fear as he fought to escape.

"Love isn't futile, Tom. For there are worst things then death. They will live on in our hearts, as we will in their love." Tom cringed away from the sight of those cold eyes, feeling them bore into his very soul as he was stripped of his power, his dignity, "But you, Tom... You will suffer the most futile end of all. You will be forgotten. For you, death is Death. Goodbye, Tom." Without another word, Harry closed his eyes, pouring the magic of his love into fulfilling his destiny, willing it to be done. Briefly, a light flared in Tom Riddles' eyes, cleansed finally of the Darkness which had gnawed at it for his entire life; and then he was gone.

Pulling his unwilling eyes open, he turned and found what he knew he would see. Swallowing deeply, he could not help the stream of tears as he caressed Ginny's lifeless cheek. She had given him too much; she had given him everything...

Now staggering, he turned and made his way to his daughter's still form. With absolute tenderness, he cradled her body in his arms, gently laying her down by her mother's side. Picking up Ginny's fallen wand, he at last lowered himself into a kneeling position, even as the desperate footsteps of the rescuers echoed in the tunnel beyond.

"We won, Honey. We won."

He raised the wand.

A flash of light-

...and Harry James Potter fell, lifeless, to the ground.

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i A/N: Gah, that was really depressing, but I just really wanted to write that before I started on the Christmas Challenge. This year, I'm studying Tragedies for Literature, and, having read the new books, suddenly have it in my heart to write something like this. Some of you probably hate it, and some may like it, but I just needed this just the same... Thanks for reading, now review :) /i 

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Copyright Geoffrey Lim 2006


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